Osprey Media: Saint Catharines Standard:
"Whale sharks shouldn't be in captivity
Letters to the Editor - Friday, October 06, 2006 @ 01:00
Re: King of fish to be housed in Marineland aquarium, The Standard, Sept. 7.
I've been a scuba diving instructor for a number of years, have taught many to dive and have always felt extremely grateful for the privilege of being able to guide people underwater and see their pleasure at discovering a fascinating world that is as close to natural and unspoiled as you will find on our planet.
It would have been honest for Marineland owner John Holer to admit he wishes purely to increase his future profit margins.
To imply he has any interest at all in the well being of the whale sharks he is threatening to imprison, in a pool far too small for any large marine animal, is pure hypocrisy.
Whale sharks roam the world's oceans. Even marine biologists who study them cannot definitively state just what the boundaries of their wanderings are.
To put one in a shallow pond is about as cruel as anything we could do to these magnificent and harmless creatures. I wonder how Holer would feel, being told he can have a state-of-the-art living room, yet could never leave it, apart from when he dies?
It's beyond our human endeavour to educate anyone about wildlife by imprisoning them.
I wonder if Marineland's whale shark will ever grow to it's potential 12-metre adult size? I very much doubt it, and wonder just how many belugas and dolphins have already died at Marineland without enjoying a long and natural life.
I'm not an extreme conservationist, I just don't believe there is any justifiable reason for inflicting this life sentence on a creature that has done absolutely nothing to deserve your attention. Andrew Watts
Rathfon Road
Wainfleet"
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